


Losing Breath

by Semageon



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Sacrifice, botw au, it's a deviation from a BotW AU but it still definitely applies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 04:53:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13116438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semageon/pseuds/Semageon
Summary: Fic for Ashe for the Shipwatch Secret Santa Exchange!Genji managed to seal away the ancient entity that destroyed his family's kingdom, but not without the cost of it going up in flames. With nothing he can do to save anything but the man who'd been by his side for years, Genji desperately seeks out help from an old spirit. Perhaps he can help save Jesse....





	Losing Breath

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ashe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashe/gifts).



> Hey Ashe! I'm your secret santa! I really hope you like this fic, and I might possibly continue this idea later. Probably not, but who knows. Anyway, tadah!!!

The sky was ash. Fires of battle long over, but the damage was still fresh on the land. The air was thick with a smog charged with dark magics. It was a struggle for Genji to see very far before himself, but he knew where he needed to go. He had to get there soon. He wasn’t sure how much time he had, and was too afraid to risk wasting much time worrying over it.

Jesse was hurt, bad, and he couldn’t help him. How could he try and counter a cursed magic that he barely understood? He could barely stop the evil entity that nearly killed Jesse in the first place, and containing was nothing less of a miracle. That thing was something ancient, burning with rage, and yearned only for destruction. There was no sense to it.

It didn’t matter anymore. If Genji was right, he sealed the entity away, at least for now. The kingdom was gone, everything was gone. Everything’d gone up in other-worldly fire so damn fast. It was like he’d blinked and suddenly everything was was in ruins. There was nothing he could do… but he could save Jesse. He could still do that. He just needed to get to the spring in time.

“Alma! Are you out there?” Genji yelled through the smog, desperate for the guardian to hear him. He knew she’d would likely be flying about, looking for him now that the fighting had ceased. His voice felt so hoarse, raw from the ashes scratching at his throat, but he wouldn’t give up.

A sharp cry cut through the air, and Genji nearly collapsed in relief, the weight of Jesse in his arms just about becoming too much for him on top of his exhaustion. Through the darkness, a large form sunk down from the sky, landing not too far from the two of them. It was a large stone owl, eyes glowing a soft red; it was a familiar sight, and perhaps a lifesaving one.

“Please Alma,” Genji begged at the owl. “Jesse’s dying. We need to get to the spring  _ now.” _

She nodded and cooed quietly, cry sounding concerned. She leaned low as Genji awkwardly climbed onto her back with Jesse still unconscious in his hold, and then took off. Genji was nervous that he’d drop Jesse, but thankfully Alma accommodated for the abnormal ride and flew carefully. Up past the thick of the smog, above the tree, up to where Genji could better see the full range of destruction of the battle.

It was even worse than he thought. The castle was in shambles, and the remaining structure looked to be almost infected with cursed magic. It made Genji shudder to see his home like that. The rest of the area was lost in smog, but from what Genji had seen from the ground, it wasn’t much better off.

The spread of it, however, was fair wider than he could have imagined. Past the castle, the Citadel, the woods around the area. The fires and destruction just kept spreading. Even the town over seemed to fall victim to the devastation. The people weren’t meant to be a part of this at all. This hadn’t been a battle, this was a massacre. It wasn’t fair, but there was nothing Genji could do at this point.

When Alma touched down, Genji quickly slid off her back and rushed into the cave, Jesse limp in his arms. His breath had slowed considerably since Genji last noticed. He didn’t have much left in him. Alma probably got him there just in time.

“Gabe! Gabe, please wake up!” Genji called into the spring, voice scratchy from having been yelling for ages in the smog. The moment he stepped into the spring’s cavern, a figure appeared at the shrine behind the shimmery pool. A tall hooded man, quickly stepping off of it and floating above the spring’s surface as he walked over to Genji.

“No, it came today, didn’t it?” Gabe’s voice was soft with concern as he stopped just before Genji, as if not wanting to believe what he said was true. Genji nodded, trying to keep tears from spilling from his eyes. Gabe’s head fell, hood falling over his eyes. “It wasn’t meant to come this soon. How could this happen…”

“Jesse’s hurt.” Genji cut through Gabe’s confusion. “I can’t help him, but your spring. You can save him, can’t you?”

Gabe looked back at him, eyes brimming with concern, then down at Jesse’s body. He held his hands over the man’s body, letting a soft red glow fall over his form. The more Gabe moved his hands over Jesse, the deeper his concerned expression became. Nothing about it made Genji feel any better.

“So?” Genji knew asking wasn’t going to help anything, but he couldn’t keep himself from trying.

Gabe dropped his hands back to his sides and looked Genji in the eye. “Genji, I can heal… but not this. I’m an old spirit, you know this. Back when I was still young, I may have been able to combat this kind of magic. But now… I would only be able to help some of his physical wounds, the ones not already festering. The magic that persists deep within his mind....I’m sorry.”

Genji stared back, trying to think of something to say. Anything. He looked away, tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to fall. “There has to be something. Everything’s gone, Gabe. Jesse’s all I have left. I can’t lose him. He saved me and I now I need to save him.”

“Genji, I told you, there’s-”

_ “I heard you!” _ Genji snapped at him, tears now streaming down his face as his voice began to break. “I know you said there’s nothing you can do, but there has to be  _ something _ . Please, if there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it.”

Genji wasn’t used to seeing sorrow on the spirit’s face. “Genji…there is something, but the cost of it would be your life.”

“What do you mean?”

Gabe looked down, unable to meet his eyes. “I don’t mean you would die, not really. But if you were to take my place as the host of the spring, there is a chance you would be able to heal Jesse.”

“Take your…place?”

Gabe walked back out into the spring and gestured Genji to followed. He obeyed, stepping carefully into the glowing water and wading out until his knees were submerged. The reparative properties of it began to act quickly on Genji, magic seeping into his body and slowly repairing damages from the battle. Energy returned to him. Aches and burns lessened their sting. The smog that ripped his throat raw faded away, making breathing much easier.

As Genji held Jesse, the man’s legs were so long that his toes began to brush against the surface, adding to the ripples that were skittering to the edge of the spring. They stilled so quickly, water settling around Genji eerily quick. He’d been here before, for guidance, for hiding, for intimacy, but never before had he needed this spring for its healing powers. He’d hoped he never would.

“Years ago, I came to be this spring’s host,” Gabe sat down upon the spring’s surface, just barely floating over it. “The circumstances of it weren’t…exactly what I would have liked, but they are what brings us to today. I was dying, and the previous host’s guardian brought me here and gave me an offer: to take her place.”

“You were human once?” Gabe nodded.

“This was long before your family came to power in this land. Long enough that my time here has been nearing its end. I wasn’t going to tell you this ‘cause, well, you weren’t likely going to live long enough for that to ever be relevant. But now--“

“I’ll do it.”

Gabe frowned. “Genji, we don’t even know if--“

“I said I’ll do it.” There was a shiver in his voice, but his expression was firm. “Jesse’s gonna die if we do nothing. If taking your place is what it takes to have a shot, I’ll do it.”

Gabe sighed, studying Genji closely, then looking down at Jesse still in his arms. “Are you  _ sure _ you wish to do this? If you go through with it, there’s no undoing this, and you have a choice here. I know how much Jesse means to you, but you have your own life to consider here.”

“I’m making this decision on my own.” Another tear rolled down his cheek as Genji looked down, dripping off his chin and splashing onto his Jesse’s bloodstained tunic. “Even if my family’s kingdom was still standing, I would make this choice. I have considered my life, and this is what I wish to do with it.”

Gabe stared at Genji for a long while, quietly. His eyes were full of sorrow, but he nodded regardless. “I can’t promise that this will work, but I will do whatever possible to help you as best I can. Are you ready to begin?”

Genji looked back up at Gabe, nodding back. “Born ready.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this fic! Have a wonderful winter holiday!!


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